Admitting that one is wrong is not as easy as some make it out to be. Pride, self-esteem, public opinion, there are tons of things that make it challenging. This includes sports fans. We can be deceptively effective at making it sound like we know what we’re talking about. But we all have to pay the piper. I hated the idea of the NBA Play-In Tournament when initially announced. However, based on the 2026 edition thus far, it’s giving fans terrific action.
What a Stupid Idea
For the uninitiated, the NBA Play-In Tournament was born in 2020 during the pandemic-affected NBA season. The original version didn’t quite resemble what it became by the 2020-21 campaign.
Essentially, SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament (because what good is a competition without a corporate sponsor?) is a series of games that run from Tuesday through Friday in the week after the regular season ends and before the weekend when the real playoffs begin on Saturday.
The participating clubs are the 10th, 9th, 8th, and 7th seeds of each conference. Number 10 plays versus 9, and 8 plays versus 7. The winner of the latter automatically becomes the conference’s 7th seed for the actual postseason. That match’s loser plays the winner of the 10 vs 9 contest to determine the conference’s 8th and final playoff spot. The loser of 10 vs. 9 sees its season end immediately.
Why in heaven’s name should clubs that could finish no better than 9th and 10th in a 15-team conference be permitted to get a whiff of the NBA playoffs?
Because money. Basically.
Which is understandable. Any corporate entity whose raison d’être is to earn a profit will explore all avenues to achieve said goal, and then some.
But seriously. The Golden State Warriors, the tenth-best side in the West in 2025-26, finished the regular season with a risible 37-45 win-loss tally, a full eight matches below the .500 mark. Get out of here!
Steph “Chef” Curry
But that’s why they play the game, isn’t it? For those who didn’t stay up until the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast, the Warriors-L.A. Clippers contest was a Play-In match for the ages. Frankly, having watched Tuesday’s Miami Heat-Charlotte Hornets battle, that was excellent too. Really, all four games have been solid (the matches that determine the 8 seeds will be played on Friday, April 17).
The highly touted Intuit Dome, home of the Clippers, hosted a belter of a bout on Wednesday. Both sides struggled mightily at times through the season. Los Angeles was a tire fire for the first couple of months. Problems with franchise legend Chris Paul, an awful product on the court, it looked as though heads would roll. They did, sort of. When they dealt James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the popular opinion was that L.A. was accepting its lugubrious fate. Not so. They finished a respectable 42-40.
Golden State’s season has been marred by injuries. Jimmy Butler’s campaign was done and dusted months ago, Kristaps Porzingis battled a curious illness, and Steph Curry was absent from late January to early April, his ailment removing him from 27 contests.
None of that mattered on Wednesday night. Or, rather, all of it mattered. It arguably made the game even better than it was on paper. Golden State’s 126-121 victory has, at best, given them a ticket to play another game that will determine if they make the playoffs (versus the Phoenix Suns). But in the moment, as the match occurred, it was worth every minute.
L.A. claimed a 13-point, fourth-quarter advantage that looked to put them through to fight another day. Betting against Curry is never a good idea. The living legend earned 27 of his 35 points in the second half and, with the help of three-point shots made by Al Horford late in the game, the Warriors prevailed. Lest we forget that Draymond Green, love him or hate him, made a heck of a defensive play on Kawhi Leonard late in the fourth quarter. Keep in mind that Curry is 38 years old, Horford is 39, and Green is 36.
It was a topsy-turvy affair, befitting the high-pressure situation that is a single-round elimination challenge.
Brilliant Basketball Nights
The Warriors-Clippers battle captured fans’ imaginations, but so too did most of the other three contests on Tuesday and Wednesday.
That Heat-Hornets game, won by the latter 127-126 in overtime, was gonzo. Neither side ever led by that many points, oftentimes by five or six points at most, but the opponent would always respond. There was controversy surrounding Bam Adebayo’s first-half injury at the hands of a dirty LaMelo Ball act, local North Carolina hero Coby White drained three-point shots truly like his club’s season depended on it (it did), and Miami showed why an Erik Spoelstra-coached side must never, ever be considered down and out until the final whistle.
Poetic can be waxed about the Portland Trail Blazers’ narrow 114-110 win over the Suns. Fun fact: Portland had a first-round draft pick on the line if they didn’t win. Winning still feels nicer, as it always does. The Chicago Bulls thank them for said draft selection option.
Maybe the Orlando Magic-Philadelphia 76ers contest – Philly won 109-97- will be the one that gets talked about the least. The Magic are in a tailspin, especially after a woeful showing on the final Sunday of the regular season (a win would have given them hope to not even partake in the Play-In Tournament). Philly’s victory is nice, but as has been too often the case, a sidelined Joel Embiid takes a lot of bite out of the 76ers’ squad. To be fair, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe will give them a puncher’s chance.
So yes, the NBA Play-In Tournament is a dumb, stupid idea. Except when it isn’t. Except when it offers brilliant, high-stakes basketball, with teams, players, and coaches desperate to grind another win or two and keep their season alive.
Except when it gives us fans everything we want in a beloved sport.
Edgar Chaps 
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